ABSTRACT
The description of the American political system that we have developed to this point is one of enormous variety and diversity: a set of sectional, class, pluralistic and individualistic forces which can only with difficulty be compressed into a few broad categories. The institutional structures that we have examined have fully reflected and expressed this diversity: the federal system, the structure of pressure groups, the political parties, the working of Congress all give full rein to multifarious interests, each intent on furthering its economic aims, defending its social position or gaining a hearing for its point of view. Each of these structures channels and articulates these demands, gradually contributing to the process of bargaining and compromise that decision-making requires. Yet the very nature of all these structures emphasises their own pluralistic character, for pluralism is built into all of them as a dominant characteristic. It is only when we come to the Presidency of the United States itself that we reach a part of the political structure where a single will must be expressed, a single mind made up. This is not to say that all the enormous pressures of the pluralistic political system do not reach expression in the presidency. They are indeed felt, and their impact is very considerable, as we shall see. But here at least there is the possibility of a unity, which exists nowhere else in the system, and consequently the possibility of the exercise of leadership. It is in the area of leadership that the American political system may be thought to be most defective, and it is the function of the President to try to remedy that defect. Given the nature of the American system, and of the political culture that sustains it, the task of the President is a super-human one. He is therefore inevitably doomed to failure before he begins. This is the challenge of the presidency, its fascination and its tragedy.
